The One Who Stole the Sun
by Creativite
Summary: After the events of OoT, Link cannot bring himself to return to the past. With his love for the betrothed princess clouding his judgement, he leaves Hyrule, only to return and think about what he's been through. One-shot, and my first fanfic!


The One Who Stole the Sun

The festive music from the castle spilled out of the windows on to the small garden. Dear Hyrule didn't have anything worth while to celebrate until recently; the great Gerudo King was no more, signaling a feast of jubilation, likely to eventually be celebrated for many years to come. The blossoming flowers were vibrant with color, which was a stark contrast to how the battle hardened young man had felt. All was right in the world, from the poorest of beggars with bread in their hands to the princess of Hyrule with a ring on her finger. All was right.

'The flow of time is always cruel... Its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it... A thing that doesn't change with time is a memory of younger days...' Those words pierced him like a rusty knife as he pondered over those words again and again. Today, the day that marked a new Golden age for Hyrule, was celebrated by everyone young and old for a valiant hero had redeemed the land they had once thought was doomed. For once in the existence of the world, everyone felt time flow down the same steady river, beautifully synchronized, except for one. Time for him meandered down a lonely stream, slow and unforgiving. It seems his time away from the place he once called home wasn't enough to fill the emptiness within his heart, the emptiness that was created by those cruel words. 'Go home Link, regain your lost time... Home, where you're supposed to be... The way you're supposed to be...'

And so he listened to the princess, or at least tried to. Not being able to bring himself to return to his forgotten past, he disappeared from Hyrule, ashamed by his own actions and disloyalty to the princess. But he vowed never to return so that she may have what she wanted; him gone.

In the years that passed the hero would come to realize that he had lost his meaning of existence. She had stolen the sun from his life.

* * *

His name became legend, his deeds myths. The people who claimed to know him shared his stories. Stories of victory, stories of triumph. Stories of joy, stories of sorrow. Stories of pain, stories of loss. Especially the stories of loss. They have believed him to be deceased, something he didn't correct them on whenever he returned. He hated the fact that he wanted to return, yet he hated the sense of eeriness of the places he left behind, which always bit at his conscious with a the cold sting of a blade. He hated the longing for the desire to feel intensely again. He was, by all means, incomplete.

He sauntered through Castle Town during the times of celebration where the Queen and her husband appeared before their people, catching small glimpses of the woman he once knew. He hoped to make eye contact, praying for the ambiguous intensity of such moments but alas, he had no such luck. He was by no means a coward, proven by his bearing of the Triforce of Courage, but he still feared. He feared that his life didn't fit into the stories of the heroes of old. He feared his longings and nostalgia for memories he has never known. He was fearful.

That was, until, he saw her.

Her smile was contagious; every time he saw it, he smiled. Her smile was what kept him fighting, it was what kept him from dwelling on the past and the 'what could have beens.' He would tell himself, 'If I hold on for one more day, one more month, one more year... I could see her smile and everything will be okay.' Her smile will always be engraved in his mind even though she may never smile at him the way he smiles at her. Because her smile belongs to someone else. He didn't deserve her smile anyways.

* * *

He was still young. Twenty-two. Still strong, yet he always has that sharp nagging reminder that pulls him back into darkness, reminding him of all his failures. The goddesses were taunting him in periodic, yet measured, increments, goading him to try again. To try to win back his heart. To claim what was never his.

The day he decided that he deserved more than what he had, more than what was thrown at him by the world, he once again fell into the goddess' cruel comedy. When he finally made the resolve to claim his place in history as the hero, she stood up.

"To travel, he walked. To work, he used his hands. He was just like you and me. A normal Hylian who's life was changed by the war. To fight, he gave his body. To protect, he bled. To save myself, he gave his life. He was a hero who's time came too soon. In memory of his sacrifice, let us have a moment of silence."

All of Castle Town was silent. The old women were pensive, the men very stoic. The children stopped playing and laid a hand on their heart. And just like that, the silence was broken. Streamers flew throughout the market, and the raucous music flooded the air. The hero laughed. 'Of course,' he thought.

Then and there, he decided it was best not to make himself known. It was best to stay hidden and away. He would only be hurting himself if he tried. It's simple to love someone, but rather difficult to show it. A wet man does not fear the rain, but a man in love will always fear rejection. Despite all of his sorrow, he was able to let it go. He understood why he couldn't return and claim what he desired, for what he desired was against the goddess' will. Their plan for him was simple, he was to save Hyrule. Nothing less, nothing more, and he's done his job quite successfully. He was content.

"After all," he whispered. "When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all."

And so he left. Left never to return to Castle Town. He left to begin a new life, perhaps to settle down and build a ranch. He's always been good with animals.

* * *

As the seasons came and went, the hero soon found himself married and with a child. He looked into his newly born daughter's eyes and somehow knew that he had found the new sun of his life. It was no longer the princess, now queen, but rather his hope for the future.


End file.
